By Rose B. Palacio
Based on the Medium-Term Philippine Investment Plan (MTPIP), the national government expects to raise a total of P6.54-trillion until 2010.
` Finance Secretary Gary Teves said about twenty percent of the amount of P1.3-trillion might be used for government capital expenditures.
Projects as outlined by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her Sate of the Nation Address (SONA) based on the Medium-Term Philippine Investment Plan (MTPIP) would require about P372 billion or 28.6 percent of the total spending allocation for government projects for the medium term.
d about 20 percent of this amount of P1.3-trillion might be used for
�This means that the government would have adequate funds for the SONA projects,� Teves said.
The Finance chief said the local government units and other sectors are also participating in implementing the SONA projects. The local government units are allocating P1.3 billion; government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), P116 billion; and the private sector, P68.4 billion.
�This leaves a total P186.3 billion for funding by the National Government,� the Finance official said.
�We are sharing this task of investing for our future not only with the local government and state-owned corporations but also with the private sector that also have a stake in the development of this nation,� Teves said.
Major areas of investment include: P180 billion for railways; P101 billion for roads; P43 billion for airports; P15.8 billion for seaports; P12.6 billion for irrigation and P5 billion for bridges, while P13.5 billion will be earmarked for other projects.
�We look forward to working closely with the private sector to identify the most cost-efficient and effective ways to undertake these projects,� he said. (PIA XI Dispatch/rbp)
